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Dark Passenger
Dexter: "The only way to kill a Dark Passenger is to take out the Driver." "The Dark Passenger" is a concept used within the DEXTER Universe. While it was being built upon as an actual entity in the novels, it was more or less in the TV series the level of "darkness" in a person's personality. Originally, the "Dark Passenger" was Dexter's way of naming a "desire to kill" which became an aspect of his personality after he witnessed [[Laura Moser|his mother's''' ]]brutal death. The "Dark Passenger" was always trying to 'claim' him, wanting him to kill, but he was able to keep it at bay with a high level of control and by focusing his urges on murderers. As of Season Seven, Dexter began to view his "Dark Passenger" as a scapegoat for what he was responsible for during previous years. At this point, he regarded his actions to be his own, rather than urges created from a dark personification. Regardless, the "Dark Passenger" can be metaphorical and can represent the reasons why someone is driven to kill. Several characters in the series were driven by their own distinctive dark desires, as described below. Dexter Morgan Dexter Morgan's passenger (a need to murder) was born during his mother's terrible death at the hands of Santos Jimenez and two other men. It was a psychological manifestation that represented his urge to kill. For many years, Dexter believed that it was an actual entity. At times, Dexter thought that other murderers had dark passengers. Dexter viewed his murders as a type of addiction. To him, the ritual was "intoxicating." If he didn't kill for a duration of time, his personality began to resemble "withdrawal syndrome." Although Dexter was usually able to channel his impulses away from the innocent, they did take over in certain situations, such as when he killed a man he knew nothing about. While Dexter did enjoy dismembering his victims, it had a secondary purpose in making it easier to dispose of the bodies. After Dexter broke a promise to Brother Sam and killed Nick, he visualized his deceased brother, Brian Moser, as a representation of his inhumane side. Brian didn't care who was killed...he just wanted to kill. Dexter was pressured by the illusion of Brian to forgo the essentials of The Code, such as being certain of his victim's guilt. ("Nebraska") Dexter imagined a life of killing without constraints, but concluded that The Code protected him. Dexter finally resolved his inner conflict by running a car into the illusion of Brian, which then disappeared. Dexter acknowledged in "The Dark...Whatever" that the dark passenger did not exist as a separate entity, and was his way of evading responsibility for his actions. Harry had thought that Dexter's need to kill would stay with him forever but Dexter, at one point, felt a stronger need in response to his relationship with Hannah. It is unknown if Dexter has continued to kill, however, one of the writers implied that his passenger is still with him. Brian Moser Brian Moser's passenger (an attraction to body parts) was born during his mother's terrible murder and dismemberment at the hands of Santos Jimenez and two other men. It fed his perverse fascination with limbs and prostheses. Brian had a large refrigeration unit in his apartment where he would drain his victims' blood and then cut up their bodies into symmetrical pieces. He did not make spur-of-the-moment kills. Instead, Brian would generally well plan them in advance. Brian had no desire to kill his brother but did aim to permanently separate him from Debra, whom Brian viewed as Dexter's "fake sister." He took pride in displaying his dismembered, bloodless victims in public as part of his scheme to force Dexter to remember his past. Brian's goal was to reunite with Dexter so they could become a killing team. Lila West Lila West's passenger (a fascination with fire) was born in the past and fed off her negative emotions. When angered, she would spontaneously burn anything, even her high-priced works of art. The cause of her pyromania is unknown, but she once told Dexter that she'd killed her ex-boyfriend (a drug dealer) in a house fire after he left her strung out on drugs. This event supposedly led her to attend NA meetings. Lila did not have a problem using fire to get what she wanted or to manipulate Dexter. Killing people had little effect on her. She murdered James Doakes in a fiery explosion. After Dexter (whom she considered her "soulmate") rejected her, she attempted to burn him, Cody, and Astor alive in her loft. Miguel Prado Miguel Prado's passenger (vengeance) could have been born early on due to his father visiting physical abuse upon his children or later, as his rage built towards criminals who escaped what he believed to be an inefficient judicial system. Miguel was also power-hungry and would let nothing or no one stand in the way of his political ambitions. As an ADA, he was known for his harsh enforcement of the law. Besides his view that murder was necessary to mete out justice, Miguel used killing as a tool to achieve what he wanted. After he killed Billy Fleeter, he discovered that he enjoyed it and even presented a cheerful demeanor within hours of having murdered him and (later) Ellen Wolf (an attorney who threatened to wreck his career). Miguel then attempted to kill Maria LaGuerta when he realized that she knew he had murdered Ellen. At one point, Dexter thought of Miguel as a friend but he eventually recognized that Miguel had only been using him. When Dexter tried to exert control over him, Miguel sought to have him killed by The Skinner. George King George King's passenger (a demand for respect) was born in his violent past. His background of torturing and killing people for a living in Nicaragua turned him into a control freak who insisted on being obeyed. King never really accepted that he was a serial killer, although he was feared by many who personally knew him. King came to believe that Freebo had disrespected him, and he began a relentless hunt for him. Because King always used an excuse to justify his kills, he told himself that Freebo owed him money, despite actually caring little about the money. Whether he admitted it or not, it was mostly about the respect that Freebo failed to show him. While looking for Freebo, King would interrogate, partially skin, and kill those associated with Freebo. He then left their bodies in public, most likely as a warning to Freebo and others. Arthur Mitchell Arthur Mitchell's passenger (compulsion to re-enact family deaths) was born after his sister's death, topped off by his mother's suicide, and his father's abuse and later murder (likely by Arthur himself). While on a road trip, Arthur showed Dexter the bathroom in his childhood home "where it all started." When he was ten-years-old, Arthur watched his sister take a shower. He startled her and she slipped, suffering an accidental death. His parents blamed him for her death and he always felt responsible, although he tried to convince himself that it wasn't his fault. He said that it led to the loss of his "innocence." Arthur killed in yearly cycles - first a young boy (who represented himself), a young woman (who represented his sister), a mother (who represented his own), and a man (who represented his father). Each was murdered in the same way that each had died. After getting away with murder for thirty years, Arthur decided to commit suicide. He even constructed a coffin and let himself fall from the roof of a building. However, Dexter managed to save him (to his later regret). It should be noted that the suicides of Arthur's mother and both of his daughters, Christine and Rebecca, were all tied to his actions. While on Dexter's table, Arthur claimed that he could not control his "demon," took no pride in his kills, and was just following his "path." Knowing that Dexter was going to kill him, he accepted his fate as "God's plan." Lumen Pierce Lumen Pierce's passenger (a need for revenge) was born during her torture and rape by The Group. Dexter had noticed her watching him as he killed Boyd Fowler - her captor. Although she was fearful of Dexter at first, he was slowly able to convince her to trust him. Lumen was determined to kill the men responsible for raping her but, because of her inexperience and mistakes, she sought Dexter's assistance. At first, he tried to dissuade her. However, by Dexter's standards, these men deserved to die, so he eventually agreed to help her. They formed a partnership and took them out one by one, with Lumen herself killing two of them. After she watched Dexter set up a kill room, she realized that he had killed many times before. Instead of this fact frightening her, she started to rely on him even more. Their friendship grew stronger and, after she killed Alex Tilden, Lumen initiated an intimate relationship with Dexter. When they killed the last member and leader of The Group, Lumen's darkness suddenly disappeared. Unlike herself, she knew that Dexter could not stop killing. To Dexter's dismay, Lumen then left him to return to her previous life. Travis Marshall Travis Marshall's passenger (religious fanaticism) was born when he attended the University of Tallahassee and met Professor James Gellar. Gellar was forming a theory about how to bring on the End Times. Travis came to believe that he and Gellar were the "Two Witnesses" (two powerful prophets mentioned in the Book of Revelation). However, Gellar rejected the idea that they were prophets. Travis then attempted to prove that Gellar couldn't be killed by stabbing him with the sword of John the Revelator. When Gellar died from his wound, Travis hid his body in a freezer in the abandoned church where he set up his base of operations. He imagined that the deceased Gellar was giving him instructions as he created his bizarre religious tableaus. Travis was soon labeled "The Doomsday Killer" by the police and media. Dexter came to be viewed by Travis as the "False Prophet" or "The Beast" - enemies of God mentioned in the Bible. It was revealed in "Ricochet Rabbit" that Travis was mentally ill and suffered from psychological effects, such as delusions of grandeur, violent tendencies, and a lack of empathy. His psychiatrist had prescribed Chloropromazine, an anti-psychotic drug used to treat schizophrenia. At times, Travis also experienced periods of amnesia, especially during the commission of a violent act. EDITING... Daniel Vogel Daniel Vogel's passenger was born upon being neglected by 'his mother', who focused of all her attention towards her '''younger son (Daniel's brother). As a response, Daniel drowned his younger brother in a swimming pool and he was, in turn, sent away to a mental asylum. While there, he was practically tortured - Having to be tied down to a chair and force-fed his medications. Saxon had had enough this, and so deliberately caused an immense fire that would allow him to escape, while killing a sufficient number of children in the process. He was able to frame a by-standing nurse for the incident. After the incident, he used his freedom to journey around the world, during which he spent time killing people. He later decided to move to the United States, firstly [[Wikipedia:'''Texas|Texas]]' and then '[[Wikipedia:Florida|Florida]]' ('Tallahassee' and 'Miami). In Miami, he began murdering people, carving into their craniums, and then harvesting their brain fragments (particularly, '''the anterior insular cortex). He spent much of his time here (at least, after The Brain Surgeon Investigation began) concealing himself, even going to the trouble of using patsies and framing a man with a cicatrix on the back of his head; All of this was a way to test Dexter Morgan 'and his own mother, who was residing in Miami as well. After a long search for the Brain Surgeon, Dexter eventually discovers that it is none other than Vogel's "long lost" son, and the two secretly meet up one day. While the two seem to act pleasant towards one another at first, this is cut short when Daniel cuts her throat in front of Dexter. Vogel is later avenged when Dexter stabs Oliver in the neck, killing the latter. Other Characters Dexter is one of only two characters to have the Dark Passenger appear to them as a physical form (the other being Travis Marshall with Professor Gellar). So far, his passenger has manifested itself in three forms - Brian Moser, Harry Morgan, and Laura Moser. A third Passenger, belonging to Joe Jensen, which although is not known to take on a physical form in the killer's mind, does take the name of Jensen's childhood friend, Bobby. There also may have been passengers belonging to 'Jordan Chase and''' Isaak Sirko, respectively. Jordan Chase was the main antagonist of Season Five, and there were implications throughout the series that he had a Dark Passenger, though the cause of it is unknown. For starters, he seemed to take a strange liking to Dexter, much like the way Lila, Miguel and Arthur did...this is likely because he, like all of them, recognized Dexter as someone like himself in a way, albeit without knowing it. He was also capable of pretending to be a nice, likable person while at the same time being a sadistic serial killer responsible for the vicious murders of people he didn't even know. He has even proven himself to be every bit as dangerous as Dexter was when he successfully fooled and bested him on a few occasions throughout the series, as well as seeming to have an unusually high understanding of him... just like his fellow main antagonists. All of this implies that he had his own Dark Passenger, though the cause of it is never revealed. Isaak Sirko was one of the main antagonists of Season Seven, who, like Jordan Chase, is implied, but never confirmed to have a Dark Passenger. He identified Dexter as someone similar to himself, and even remarked that in another world, the two could have been great friends. He also is extremely interested in Dexter's motivation for killing, being to avenge the victims of the people he killed. This is similar to Isaak's own reason for wanting to kill Dexter, which is for killing Isaak's secret lover, [[Viktor Baskov|'''Viktor Baskov]]. Although Isaak had a history of being violent, dating back to the act of pushing his music teacher down a flight of stairs, it is implied that Isaak's passenger, if he had one, developed during Isaak's time at an English boarding school, as Isaak states that afterwards, he didn't have much left of a sensitive side left. Although Isaak's impulse to kill Dexter is hard to control at first, as he is tenacious about getting his vengeance on him, despite ending up being arrested and hindering the operations of the Koshka Brotherhood, Isaak eventually spares Dexter, although it is because he needed his help in killing Oleg Mickic and Benjamin Caffrey, two hit men out to kill Isaak. Novels I'n the Novels' Dexter is driven to kill to satisfy an inner voice he calls Dark Passenger. When that voice cannot be ignored, he "lets the Dark Passenger do the driving." In the books, it is assumed that this is Dexter's way of referring to his homicidal urges but it was revealed in the third book that it might in fact be a real demon deep inside Dexter. The idea was largely disliked by critics and fans alike and was dropped from future books. It is mentioned in the TV series but only as Dexter's way of referring to his urges and with significantly less frequency than the books. Dexter in the Dark The Dark Passenger is revealed in the third novel, Dexter in the Dark, to be an independent agent inhabiting Dexter, instead of a deviant psychological construction. It is revealed that the Dark Passenger is the offspring of Moloch, a god who has been worshiped since Biblical times. When Dexter was 3, he and his brother were left in a tanker full of blood and dead bodies, and as a result Dexter became emotionally numb. The pain also drew the Dark Passenger to him, which may be the true reason for his desire to kill as opposed to any psychological deviance. After Dexter in the Dark, it seems that the idea of the dark passenger being a living entity has been abandoned. As of 2013, writer Jeff Lindsay stated In The Dark was an experiment, and as such the storyline was been tested, assuming the reviews regarding the novel, Lindsay dropped the idea. Dexter by Design During the beginning of the novel, Dexter is still feeling the somewhat weak and backseat-like attitude of his Dark Passenger, caused by the events of Dexter in the Dark. TV Series Season One In the first season, the Dark Passenger is mentioned as a general term for the burden Dexter carries as a result of his trauma. Season Two In the second season, it is used to refer to an impulse like drug addicts have. Season Six In the sixth season, Dexter's Dark Passenger started to manifest in his consciousness as his dead brother Brian Moser, commenting and influencing his attitudes, similar to the way he interacts with his father's presence in his mind. This shows the light and dark side of the passenger, contrasting that of the James Gellar passenger in Travis Marshall. Season Seven In the seventh season, Dexter, with the insight of Hannah McKay, who had no passenger of her own, begins to start viewing his passenger as an excuse for killing that he himself adopted. This revelation is finalized with a confrontation with Joe Jensen, the 'Phantom Killer', who had his own 'passenger' that coerced him into burning people alive. Since this idea, the majority of Dexter's kills weren't ritual kills for avenging victims, but were more for the purpose of defending himself or others, such as Hannah. These kills included Oleg Mickic, Clint McKay, and Hector Estrada. References * Darkly Dreaming Dexter * Dearly Devoted Dexter * Dexter in the Dark * Season 1 * Season 2 Category:Characters Category:Characters from the dexter book series Category:Concepts Category:Dark Passengers